


Hopefully You’re Not Wrong

by Inadee



Series: Teamwork makes the dream work [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: A little angst to start, F/M, Fluff, Identity Reveal, No Beta, Romantic Relationship, Teamwork makes the dream work, fluffy fluff, my 2nd fic, we love some good communication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-02-23 13:14:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23712082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inadee/pseuds/Inadee
Summary: One year after the role of Guardian was bestowed on Ladybug, she feels ready to have a heart-to-heart with Chat Noir. An honest, caring conversation shows them how much they have to gain if they truly trust each other.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Sabine Cheng/Tom Dupain
Series: Teamwork makes the dream work [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1717729
Comments: 33
Kudos: 566





	1. Chapter 1

“I need to talk to you,” Chat Noir whispered to Ladybug as they both watched the Miraculous repair the last akuma’s damage.

“Ok…” Ladybug trailed off, waiting to hear what her partner had to say.

“Not here. I know neither of us has much time before we transform. I’m gonna recharge and then can we meet in five minutes on the Eiffel Tower in our usual spot?”

“Of course!” Ladybug replied, looking concerned. “Is everything o-okay?”

“Everything is fine,” he reassured her. Impulsively, he leaned over and kissed her cheek. To his surprise, she didn’t pull away. Instead, she closed her eyes for a moment and leaned against him. “See you in five minutes,” he whispered, putting his arm around her shoulder and giving her a quick squeeze. She opened her eyes, nodded and smiled.

*****

“Exactly what are you planning to talk to Ladybug about?” asked Plagg suspiciously.

“Well…” Adrien trailed off nervously.

Plagg remained silent but raised his tiny eyebrows slowly. Adrien handed him some Camembert but said nothing more, trying to read the expression in Plagg’s bright green eyes. He might be mistaken, but he felt like he was detecting a tiny sparkle of mischief in his Kwami’s eyes, despite his best attempts to remain stern.

Adrien remained silent a few moments more, staring at Plagg in an effort to break his composure. 

_I’m having a staring contest with an ancient being that holds the power of destruction,_ he thought to himself. 

Sighing, Adrien looked down and relented. “For the past year, since Ladybug became the Guardian, I’ve done my best to back off with the flirting. You know I’ve been doing my best to be a better partner to her and support her in the way she really needs instead of staying focused on expressing my feelings for her. I realized that I was only adding more pressure and I couldn’t do that to her anymore. I might have been expressing love as I felt it, but it wasn’t love in the way she needed it. Now I feel our partnership is growing stronger but there is so much unsaid. I’ve been letting my actions in battle and on patrol do the talking. I feel like now she might be ready to talk to me about what the last year has been like for her and I- I really want to know.“

Plagg’s expression relaxed. “Well kid, it’s good to know you have your head on straight finally. Try not to lay it on too thick and you might even get somewhere.”

“Get somewhere? What do you mean?” Adrien again had the sneaking feeling that Plagg was holding out on him.

“Never mind, kid. You better hurry up. We’re due at the tower now.”

“Plagg, claws out!”

******

Ladybug landed gracefully in their favorite secluded spot on the tower. Chat Noir was nowhere to be seen so she sat down to wait for him, swinging her legs over the ledge. As Marinette, she couldn’t imagine sitting in such a precarious spot but for reasons she couldn’t explain, the normally vertigo inducing views didn’t bother her in the slightest. It was an unusually warm fall day and she closed her eyes, enjoying the warm breeze and feeling the heat of the tower slowly decreasing as the sun set. She took a few deep breaths and then opened her eyes to look for Chat. She checked the time on her communicator and noted it had been six minutes since Chat had left her so they could each recharge.

“Sorry I’m late,” Chat apologized as he hopped up next to her and put his baton away. “Plagg was interrogating me.”

Ladybug laughed, “ Well at least it looks like curiosity didn’t kill the cat,” she said with a small twinkle in her eye.

Chat grinned, appreciating her joke and also the playful expression on her face. He’d experienced so few light moments with her since she unexpectedly had her training for the role of the Guardian disrupted to become the actual Guardian. All the fun and playful flirting and teasing had disappeared the moment Master Fu renounced his role and Ladybug’s demeanor had instantly become much more focused. There had been many moments since when the focus would crack slightly and he would see glimpses of the enormous pressure and danger she felt. Although he did not know who she was, he knew Ladybug was close to his own age and he couldn’t imagine what it would be like to protect the Miraculous on top of all the other secrets they both had to keep from their family and friends.

“So what did you want to talk about?” she asked, leaning into him slightly.

Chat smiled and put his arm around her shoulders, drawing her closer. He felt her stiffen in surprise and then relax a tiny bit. “Hey it’s ok, bug,” he reassured her. “You’re my partner and I want you to feel comfortable. If you want me to move my arm, I will.”

“No, that’s ok and please keep reminding me of that,” she murmured, relaxing fully against him. “I’m glad to have you as my partner.” She looked up at him for a moment. He had grown so much in the last year compared to her and her head fit perfectly against his chest. She could faintly feel his slightly accelerated heartbeat near her ear.

“I’ll be glad to,” Chat replied. “I know we see each other pretty often but I have missed you so much. I’ve wanted to talk to you and help you in any way I could but you’ve felt-- “ he paused, “a million miles away even as we’ve been fighting together.”

Ladybug smiled. Unbeknownst to him, she knew quite a bit of what he was feeling due to his regular visits with herself as Marinette. It was probably the only way she had been able to keep herself together at all. However, the tension of keeping yet another secret from him--listening to his thoughts felt like breaking a promise.He would never have confided his worries about Ladybug to Marinette if he had known who he was actually talking to.

“I am so sorry,” she said aloud, interrupting her own thoughts and bringing her focus back to Chat.

“It’s nothing to apologize about milady,” Chat replied smoothly. “You have had greater burdens than I can even imagine put on you in the heat of a terrible moment. I’ve just tried to be as supportive as I can. I apologize for how much pressure I was adding to the situation with my flirting and jokes. I-I realize that probably made it seem like I didn’t care about how you were feeling at the time.”

“Chat, no,” Ladybug said quietly, putting her hand on his knee. “I know you cared how I felt. It’s just everything has been falling apart so quickly both as Ladybug and in my civilian life. I had to make all these hard choices at my own expense and it was s-so hard not to be selfish. I reached a point where everything I w-wanted was going to hurt someone so I just shut it all off. I focused on being a better Ladybug and being a good friend without expecting anything from anyone. And now… the pain of all those sacrifices is slowly decreasing and I can just about bear it.” she looked up at Chat and smiled a very shaky smile.

“I can promise you that not one moment has gone by where I’ve seen you as anything less than the truly wonderful Ladybug that you are,” Chat said in a soft reassuring voice.

Ladybug took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She could feel the altogether too familiar feeling of tears burning behind her eyelids. A single tear escaped and coursed through her eyelashes and down her cheek. She took a deep breath, attempting to calm herself. 

Chat looked at her with concern. “Ladybug?” he asked quietly. “Are you okay?”

“Y-y-yeah,” she took another big breath and shakily let it out. Slowly, she opened her eyes and gazed at her Kitty’s bright green ones. He smiled, locking his gaze onto her watery blue eyes. After a moment she smiled too and they both turned to look out over the city of Paris.

They sat together in comfortable silence, gazing at the deepening colors of the sunset. Each of them was trying to read what their partner was feeling and trying to figure out what to say next. 

As Ladybug looked up at Chat Noir, she could feel so much turmoil bubbling up inside of her. She wondered if he was feeling it too. As far as she could tell, he looked calm and attentive. Usually he was bubbly, talkative one and his silence actually compelled her to say more than she intended.

“I- I really wish I could talk to you all the time!” she burst out. “It feels so unfair that we can communicate so clearly and say what we feel and we don’t even know each other!”

“We do know each other,” he reassured her. “Although I know what you mean. The longer I spend with this alternate identity, the harder it is to be completely honest about anything in my civilian life. Everything gets more and more tangled together and I feel like I am struggling to keep my stories straight.”

“I feel exactly the same way,” she agreed. “It feels so wrong to protect the lies I tell but I cannot think of any other way to keep myself and everyone else safe. With Master Fu gone, there is no longer an adult that I can go to and ask advice. No one knows me on both sides of the mask-apart from Tikki I guess.”

“Yeah and that’s just not the same is it?” Chat said, reflectively. “Plagg has definitely kept me from feeling entirely alone but I still feel so isolated. I know I’ve said this before but isolation is a pretty big feature of my civilian life. I try to connect with friends now that my father lets me go out a little more but it’s difficult lying to them about a huge part of my identity. It shapes every decision I make and every conflict I encounter. Whether I mean to or not, I inevitably push everyone away. I even tried seeing someone and it just fell apart so fast. Now I am just trying to rescue the friendship we had before but she can tell I’m not always being truthful with her and she doesn’t know why… she can’t… I just wonder-” Chat paused, wondering if he was willing to reveal his deepest anxiety to his partner. She already had so much to deal with and he didn’t want her to interpret this as more pressure on her.

“What is it, Kitty?” she asked when he didn’t continue. Gently, she squeezed his knee and smiled at him.

Chat smiled at his favorite endearment from her. Ladybug had been careful in the way she touched him in the last year and the physical contact and pet name felt deeply reassuring. “I just wonder if this means I will have to remain mostly--alone-- until we defeat Hawkmoth.”

“Oh, Kitty…” Ladybug took a deep breath. “I know what you mean. I started having more friendships when my role as Ladybug started but now… I feel like I am losing everyone. I even felt like I was starting to lose you and yet I kept pushing you away even as it was hurting so much. I-I tried seeing someone too and I just couldn’t feel the connection he seemed to feel with me. I was constantly hiding things and making excuses and he was so understanding--it was actually kind of infuriating.” she admitted.

“Infuriating? That’s a pretty strong word Milady!” Chat raises his eyebrows mischievously. If he was completely honest with himself, this revelation from Ladybug was causing a small twinge of triumph to ping in his heart. He restrained the impulse to pull her even closer but he couldn’t resist putting his free hand on top of Ladybug’s where it rested on his leg.

Ladybug startled slightly at his touch, then giggled and relaxed again. “Yeah, well I know the poor guy meant well but that dynamic just doesn’t work for me I guess.”

They both sat quietly for a few moments. Chat had fought the impulse to say something flirty after her last statement. He knew that saying the wrong thing at this point risked ending the most comforting conversation he had enjoyed with anyone in a very long time.

At that moment, inexplicably, he thought of Marinette and how much time they had spent comforting each other. Those moments had felt so similar to this and yet it felt like each of them was hiding something from the other. He knew, of course exactly what he was hiding from Marinette but he couldn’t guess what she could be hiding from him. Blinking for a moment to consciously detach himself from that memory, he returned his focus to Ladybug. He squeezed her hand gently and nuzzled the side of her head. She nuzzled back which made him start in surprise and look down at her beautiful, masked face.

Ladybug looked up at Chat and grinned. She wasn’t sure why she had returned his affectionate nuzzle but she didn’t have the usual sense of regret that she felt when she instinctively reached out to him. Right now, they felt so connected and it was the happiest and most content she had felt in months. She realized at that moment just how much she had retreated from everyone but especially from her closest, dearest friend. She knew she shouldn’t be too hard on herself. She had been completely overwhelmed by all the upheaval and heartbreak. It was a wonder she could even put up any kind of front to everyone when she had felt so much raw pain inside. It was a welcome relief to feel the first twinges of ‘normality’ entering back into her life.

“This feels so good,” she said aloud. “Talking to you, hearing how you feel.. It’s a relief. I’m sorry I waited so long to let you in and I am so thankful that you…” she trailed off, trying to find the right words.  
“I’m so happy you agreed to spend time with me,” he said with such sincerity in his voice, it took her breath away. 

Suddenly the bubbling turmoil was back, the words rising that she had pushed back again and again. This time she wouldn’t… couldn’t stop them.

“I don’t want to wait anymore!” she blurted out. “I...I want you to know… who I am and I want…”she broke off, her hand suddenly squeezing his leg. She felt Chat’s own hand closing over hers, his claws carefully curling around her fingers so he didn’t scratch her. They looked at each other with such intensity that neither could speak for a moment.

Ladybug took a deep breath and finished her sentence. “I want to know who you are too, Chat. So I guess what I am asking…” she broke off again and then whispered, “Do you want… to know too?”

Chat Noir was in complete shock at his Lady’s words. He had been dreaming of this moment for years. After all the heartbreak of Ladybug’s sudden, shocking transition to her role as the Guardian, his wish to truly know her had seemed farther away than ever. He took a deep breath, feeling the tears stinging in the corners of his eyes. “Are you sure milady?”

“It’s all I can think about,” she confessed. “To be honest, part of why I’ve kept my distance was so I could keep denying this feeling when I’m with you. But… I am so afraid. I know how dangerous it could be… I once had a visit from a future miraculous holder because you had learned my identity and then somehow, you were akumatized. The miraculous holder took me into this terrible future event and there you were… fighting the butterfly and its hold on you was torturing you. Everything was destroyed and you were all alone. We fought and there were moments where you were helping me and moments when you were succumbing to the impulses of the akuma and trying to fight me. I finally captured the butterfly and purified it and then the miraculous holder said I had fixed it and brought me back to the moment where it apparently all started. I still don’t have any idea what happened that led to Hawkmoth akumatizing you…” she took a huge breath and looked up at Chat. She could see how shocked he was by her revelations. “But I also think that if we retreat from each other now, our partnership will weaken and eventually fail. We have always been so in sync and I feel our journey together has brought us to this point. In order for us to keep building this trust in each other and our partnership, we have to do this. And I have faith that we will both be so careful with our knowledge and we **will** avoid the path I witnessed before.”

Chat couldn’t help but grin. “That’s the most Ladybug speech you’ve made in a long time,” he laughed.

Ladybug blushed and started to withdraw her hand from Chat’s. “I’m sorry. I guess I got carried away,” she said self-consciously.

Chat tightened his hold on her hand. “N-no don’t take that the wrong way! I love your fiery speeches!” he exclaimed. _And I love you even more._ He thought to himself. “And you know I couldn’t agree with you more,” he continued instead. “Sooo how do you want to do this?”


	2. Chapter 2

_Three Days Later_

Marinette was deeply absorbed in a sketch she was working on when she heard a tap on the glass door to her balcony. She put her work down and climbed the ladder to her loft bed. To her surprise, she saw Chat Noir peeking in the window and smiling at her. She grinned back and opened the door to let him in.

“I’d say look what the cat dragged in but you appear to have come alone!” she said with a mischievous grin. “So what brings you here on this feline evening?”

Chat Noir laughed quietly, “Hey, you’re stealing all my lines!” He protested, folding his arms and pretending to pout.

Marinette giggled. “I’m sorry, I suppose that’s true. But my question still stands. What can I do for you?”

I have a big favor to ask,” Chat replied. “I need somewhere safe and private to discuss something with Ladybug and I was wondering if we could borrow your space for a little while.”

Marinette bit back a laugh and put on her most serious expression. “Well of course I would be happy to help the heroes of Paris!” she exclaimed in the most earnest tone she could muster. “Do you have a date in mind?”

“Well,” Chat said thoughtfully. “Perhaps the day after tomorrow, Friday evening? I’ll need to confirm with Ladybug that she can make that. I can let you know tomorrow if that’s ok.”

“Sure!” Marinette replied. “I can make plans to go see a friend that night so the space will be all yours.”

“Aw, thanks Purrincess! You’re the best!” Chat exclaimed. “I’ll let you know if I can get everything arranged by tomorrow, ok?”

“No problem, Chat. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, same time?”

Chat nodded in agreement. “Until then!” he said. He opened the door to the balcony and climbed out before launching himself into the darkening sky. Marinette smiled watching him disappear.

“Friday, hmm?” she murmured to herself. “I better go in and wait for his call.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My last chapter was short so I decided to add another! There will be more tomorrow.

Thursday dragged by so slowly that both Adrien and Marinette felt like Friday evening would never arrive. After Chat stopped by to confirm that Friday at 7pm was a go, Marinette spent the rest of the evening finishing the project she had been working on for the last few days and discussing the decision to go ahead with the identity reveal with Tikki. 

“Please tell me I’m doing the right thing, Tikki,” Marinette begged as she paced back and forth in her room.

“At this point, I think it’s the only decision you can make,” Tikki responded. “Whether it turns out well or not remains to be seen but the secret is tearing your partnership apart. Sometimes secrets become as dangerous to keep as they are to share, particularly with someone you trust and even more particularly when that person doesn’t feel trusted because you are keeping the secret. I wish I could prepare you more for discovering each other’s identities but I’m afraid that is a journey I cannot interfere with. Sometimes I already feel like I’ve said too much as it is.”

“Oh Tikki, you have no idea how much I appreciate all your advice. I don’t think you’ve led me too much in one direction or the other but you’ve helped me make the best possible decision that I can make based on your advice and what I have learned myself,” Marinette sighed. “I just don’t want another visit from Bunnix.”

“I think the best way you can avoid that is to keep constant communication with Chat and guard your identities from anyone else, I think you will need time after you reveal your identities to make some ground rules about how you treat each other both as civilians and as Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

“That’s really good advice, Tikki. Thank you again,” Marinette said as she clasped Tikki to her and nuzzled her affectionately.

Meanwhile, back at the Agreste mansion, Adrien was also pacing around his room talking to his Kwami. “I can’t help but feel excited, Plagg. You know how much I’ve wanted to know my partner and not have any secrets between us.”

“Oh I know kid. Just be sure to pay attention to Ladybug’s feelings as much as you can. She has seen things we haven’t and I’m sure it has been painful to overcome her reservations.”

“Yeah. I wish I knew how to guarantee that the future she saw wouldn’t be repeated,” Adrien said wistfully.

“I am going to guess that whatever happened was the result of a lack of communication between you two or one or both of you not being careful enough of your identities. You’ve both grown up a lot since then and I’d like to hope you are more capable of handling this than you would have been before.” Plagg said. “But please, for the love of Camembert, no more of this secret pining. This will never work if you conceal how you are feeling or don’t give her good opportunities to tell you how she is feeling.”

“Thanks Plagg,” Adrien said in surprise. “Frankly, I wasn’t expecting so much support from you!”

“Well, keep in mind I know things kid. I’m dying to see how this plays out. I just wish I had time to place a few wagers with Tikki,” Plagg floated back to his cheese stash, cackling to himself.

“Now there’s the Plagg I know and love,” Adrien said sarcastically.

“Thanks kid, love you too,” came a muffled voice from the cheese board.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a longer chapter. I hope you enjoy it!

Marinette spent Friday on edge, praying that an akuma alert wouldn’t ruin her plans with Chat Noir for the evening. She wondered if wherever he was, he was feeling as nervous and excited as she was. The school day passed in a blur and Marinette could honestly say she had not retained a single fact from any of her subjects. “I better get my head out of the sky on Monday,” she muttered to herself. “I’m going to have to find someone to help me catch up.”

She was completely lost in her thoughts when someone put a hand on her shoulder. “Ah, eep, wah?” she shouted while jumping so far to the left that she landed in a shrub. From within its branches, she could hear the laughter of several classmates. _‘Ugh,’_ she thought to herself in embarrassment. A pair of green eyes looked down at her apologetically.

“I’m sorry, Marinette. I didn’t mean to startle you,” Adrien said, grabbing her hand and tugging her out of the branches. Marinette flinched as branches scratched against her wrists and ankles.

“Ugh, ow! W-hat wid you dant.. Er did you want?” Marinette asked him, gritting her teeth and inspecting the scratches on her wrists.

“I just…” Adrien was suddenly lost for words and not entirely sure why he had been trying to get Marinette’s attention in the first place. He glanced at the scratches on her arms. “Oh! I’m so sorry! Can I take you to the nurse?”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll just go home and get fixed up. I’m meant to be seeing a friend tonight so I better get going.” Marinette pulled a few twigs out of her hair and then started walking toward home.

“Oh o-okay. Well I hope you have fun with your friend!” he exclaimed, blushing a little. Marinette waved as she walked off towards the bakery. Adrien felt bad realizing that he was the one kicking her out of her own space and now she would spend her afternoon nursing her wounds until she had to leave and it was all thanks to him. He heard a tiny snort from inside his shirt pocket and realized that Plagg was once again laughing at his expense.

Marinette was sitting quietly in her room, carefully cleaning up each of the seven scratches she had gained from her encounter with the shrub. Once she was happy that all her wounds were taken care of, she focused on her outfit. After her conversation with Chat on the tower, she had immediately decided to make a special outfit, just for this occasion so she could make the best possible impression. The dress was made from black silk taffeta and had a sort of 50’s prom silhouette with capped sleeves and a flared skirt that ended a few inches above her knees. She had made an underskirt of layers of red tulle that flared out from under the skirt. As she carefully slipped the dress over her head and reached back to pull the zip the rest of the way up, her thoughts inevitably turned back to her anticipation of what would happen next. She wondered if she would recognize Chat or if he would be completely unfamiliar. She had already spent lots of time imagining introducing him to her friends and trying to come up with a story about how she knew him. She felt a little disloyal to her long standing crush on Adrien while imagining bringing a new boy into her life. 

“Marinette? You have a message from Chat Noir!” Tikki exclaimed, shaking her out of her reverie. Marinette nodded and quickly transformed.

Still good for 7pm? ;-) C

Marinette read the message and glanced at her clock. 6:30. She had better quit fantasizing and finish getting ready.

Sure. CU then LB :)

*******

It was 6:55pm and Marinette was as ready as she could possibly be. The dress she had been working on non stop fit just right. She had put on more makeup than usual, carefully lining her blue eyes with black liner and creating a rather feline flick on the ends. She brushed her eyelashes with deep black mascara. Waterproof of course, she thought to herself ruefully. Not taking any chances on that. She painted shiny red gloss on her lips having finally found a shade that matched her Ladybug suit. Instead of her usual pigtails, she gathered her hair and french braided it over one shoulder. She slipped on some black ballet flats with long satin ribbons that laced up her legs. She glanced into her mirror once she was done and gave herself a small smile.

“Tikki?” she called out and her Kwami zipped over from where she had been observing Marinette’s preparations. 

“You look lovely.” Tikki said to her as she patted Marinette’s cheek gently. Marinette gathered her up in her hands and they nuzzled each other affectionately.

“Thanks so much,” she said gratefully. “Now.. Tikki, spots on!”

******

It was 7pm exactly when Chat Noir rapped nervously on the little glass door that led into Marinette’s room. He had actually been five minutes early and had spent those minutes gazing at his last message from Ladybug. He had been afraid right up to this point that she would change her mind. A flash of pink only a minute ago had reassured him. Ladybug was right there and this was definitely happening. He peeked through the door and there was Ladybug, reaching over to open the door and let him in.

Chat carefully stepped across Marinette’s bed and went down the ladder, following Ladybug into the main part of Marinette’s room. 

“Did, um, Marinette seem ok about letting us use her room?” he asked Ladybug.

“Oh yes… she was fine with it. She was pretty flattered that you felt her trustworthy enough to use her space. I didn’t tell her why and she didn’t ask,” Ladybug replied, trying to be as reassuring as possible and also trying hard not to seem too comfortable in the space. They had come this far and she really wanted it to be a surprise.

“G-good, I’m glad to hear it,” Chat murmured.

Ladybug could see how nervous he was and her expression softened. It seemed very evident to her that it was time to go full Ladybug and take charge. “Ok, Chat, I’d really like to make sure we have time to process this and talk about what we’ll do next so I suggest I count to three and then we both call off our Kwamis, ok?”

Chat nodded, feeling rather relieved. He loved his lady’s talent for finding solutions even in the most overwhelming moments.

“All right… 1… 2...3… Tikki, spots off!”

“Plagg, claws in!”

The room flashed pink and then green before leaving two thunderstruck teenagers staring at each other.

******

The reveal shocked Marinette so much that she ducked her head, blushing furiously. Adrien was every bit as shocked but he had to laugh at himself unknowingly making arrangements with Ladybug herself.

“Marinette, you are so sneaky,” he murmured quietly, chuckling. 

His words were so quiet, Marinette wasn’t sure what he said. Slowly, she raised her big blue eyes to meet Adrien’s brilliant green ones. His expression softened as they made eye contact. 

“Gone to see a friend indeed! Well.. hopefully you’re not wrong!” he exclaimed, smirking at her.

The combination of Adrien’s dancing green eyes with the very Chat Noir smirk overcame whatever reserve was keeping Marinette in place. Some sudden instinct flashed in her heart and she propelled herself into him, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him fiercely. Adrien froze in surprise for just a moment before wrapping his own arms around her and holding her tightly against him.

“I-I can’t believe…” Marinette was gasping for words with her face buried in Adrien’s chest. “Tikki said… it would all work out...she was right!”

“What would all work out?” Adrien asked curiously, absentmindedly stroking her back.

“I - I felt so bad. I knew Chat really cared about Ladybug.. But I… I had already fallen for…”

“Oh yeah,” Adrien said sadly. “The other guy…”

“No, no, no, no,” Marinette interrupted. This was a wrong that could so quickly be put right. She just had to be brave. “The other boy… was you.”

“Oh… oh… wow,” Adrien’s voice was overcome with emotion and he found himself unable to say another word. Marinette looked up anxiously at him. To her surprise and dismay, there were tears falling down his face. 

“I’m so s-sorry. I just really had to tell you,” Marinette said. “I… I just gave you up when Kagami… It hurt but I had so many chances and I could never string a sentence together so… but then… I found it weirdly easier to talk to you after. The pressure was off I guess. But it never stopped hurting...And now, I just couldn’t let you continue thinking that there was anyone other than you in my heart.”

Adrien blushed a little at her heartfelt tone. “I’m glad you told me,” he said softly with a little smile. Marinette gazed up at him, then gently brushed the tears from his face. “And I guess you know from the conversation the other day on the tower that me and Kagami… really didn’t work out. And I never could shake how I felt about Lady- you because we are such a great team and I admire you so much. And I want you to know… Marinette… I am so happy it’s you.”

Marinette held his gaze as he told her everything she could ever want to hear. In her wildest dreams, she couldn’t have imagined this outcome. She supposed she should be feeling silly for taking this long to find the truth but somehow she didn’t. She had reached this moment when she was ready.

“And I’m just beyond happy, Adrien, that it’s you,” she said, still gazing into his eyes. 

Adrien smiled softly, an expression of comfort in his eyes that Marinette had never seen before. Gently, he held her face in his hands. Her own hands gently traced up the back of his neck, making him shiver as he leaned down to kiss her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of dialog in this chapter. I hope you enjoy!

Marinette never wanted this kiss to end. Her hands were buried in Adrien’s hair and the initially gentle kiss heated up quickly. Adrien was still gently holding her face to his but he had tentatively tilted his head to kiss her more deeply. Marinette had surprised him with her enthusiastic response. This was uncharted territory for both of them and eventually they broke apart to catch their breath.

“So this… this is the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me,” Adrien started. “And I feel like there is so much to be said but I am only able to keep thinking about how amazing this is and if I keep talking, I think I’ll just be repeating that over and over so.. I don’t think I’m going to be able to contribute anything else to this conversation for a little while,” he finished with a rather overwhelmed look on his face.

Impulsively, Marinette touched his cheek. She smiled as he closed his eyes and leaned into her touch a little. “It’s ok, Adrien. Believe me, I’m feeling it too. I feel a little bad that we are in my space so I’m definitely feeling more comfortable from being in familiar surroundings.”

“I’ve got no one to blame for that but myself,” he mumbled and Marinette giggled.

“I guess that is true, Kitty,” she said with a mischievous grin on her face. “Anyway, why don’t we go sit down for a moment?

Marinette gestured toward the chaise lounge nearby and Adrien nodded in relief, glad to let her take charge again. As she led him to the chaise, he took a moment to look at her more fully and to soak in every detail. Marinette sat down and patted the spot next to her encouragingly. Adrien smiled as they gazed at each other but didn’t sit down. Marinette’s gaze became more questioning as Adrien remained standing in front of her.

“Adrien?” she asked.

“I’m sorry,” he replied, looking a bit sheepish. “I just suddenly realized that you look different this evening. Is that new?” he asked, gesturing at her dress.

“Yeah,” she answered, standing up again and smoothing the skirt out. “I made it especially for today after we talked on the Eiffel Tower. As soon as I got home, I went straight to work. She basked in his admiring gaze for a moment before doing a little twirl and making the layers of red tulle fluff out around her legs.

“Wow,” Adrien said in an awed voice. “It’s just like you- beautiful and full of surprises!”

Marinette blushed deeply. “Thank you. Now, will you sit down with me?” she sat back down and looked up at him expectantly. 

“Yeah,” he said, joining her. The intensity of his eyes, looking into hers left her momentarily stunned. “I really just want to hold you. Can I?” Marinette nodded shyly.

Adrien slipped his shoes off before getting up on the chaise and pulling Marinette toward him until she sat back against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “Is this ok?” he asked, stroking her upper arms gently.

“It’s really nice,” Marinette replied, snuggling against him.

“It’s absolute heaven is what it is,” he murmured, kissing the side of her head. “Your hair looks really pretty like this by the way.”

“I-I’m glad you like it.” she said, tilting her head up for a moment to smile at him. He grinned at her and kissed her forehead. She closed her eyes for a moment. “So, I was wondering… what do you want to happen after tonight? I mean…” she paused nervously. “Are we…”

“Together?” Adrien finished. “I would really like that… at least as Adrien and Marinette.”

“Good,” said Marinette in relief. “I would like that too.”

Adrien sat quietly, enjoying the feeling of Marinette snuggled against him. He had fantasized about holding Ladybug like this for a long time but it had felt like a dream too good to ever come true. He wanted to pour his feelings out but he was afraid that he might make her feel uncomfortable if he was completely honest with her. He suddenly remembered what Plagg had said about how a lack of communication might have caused him to be akumatized in the future Marinette had visited.

“Marinette?” he said, tentatively. “Part of me just wants to sit here and enjoy how good this feels but I think we have a lot more to talk about.”

“Yeah, that is definitely true although I have to say, it does feel really nice just sitting here and cuddling with you. I am looking forward to a lot more of this but for now…” she carefully sat up and then slid over one of Adrien’s legs and sat next to him, leaning into his side just as she did as Ladybug. Adrien smiled and put an arm around her shoulder.

“So, how long do you think you’ll be able to stay tonight?” Marinette asked.

“Well, I guess I got some of your Ladybug luck for once because my father went to visit one of our factories in Italy yesterday. Natalie went with so it's just me and Gorilla. Once I go into my room after dinner, he leaves me be,” Adrien said, matter-of-factly.

“Does that happen often? That you just end up by yourself for the entire evening?” Marinette asked.

“Pretty much,” Adrien said. “It does make my evenings spent as Chat Noir that much easier so it isn’t all bad. Plus, now I can come see you as well… although I guess I was already doing that as Chat Noir, wasn’t I?” he said with a wry laugh.

“Yeah, about that. I’m so sorry that I just… let you talk when you visited as Chat. I always felt like I was being so dishonest with you,” Marinette said, sadly.

“It couldn’t be helped, could it? You could hardly have interrupted with ‘Hey by the way, everything you are saying is being said to Ladybug because that’s me!’ The timing wasn’t right. I mean, I’m a little embarrassed because I’m sure some of what I said probably made you uncomfortable but I’m not angry about it. In fact, I don’t regret it at all because little did I know that I was making it possible to get closer to my Ladybug!”

“I’m glad you see it that way,” Marinette replied, stroking the inside of his arm gently. “When I think about it, it’s really crazy that it was actually you that wanted to come see me, just as myself, and talk to me. I’m sure I wouldn’t have been able to keep my words straight if I had known!”

“You mentioned that earlier,” Adrien remarked. “Why was it so difficult to talk to me? Even if you liked me, what did I do that made you panic so much?”

“Wellll,” Marinette sighed. “First of all, you didn’t do anything that made me act like an idiot. I just… I know this sounds silly but right after we met when you came and talked to me in the rain and gave me your umbrella… You were just so sincere and sweet and my initial impression of you as some spoiled friend of Chloe’s just… melted away. I had never met anyone like you and I just… fell for you. The more I learned about you, the deeper my feelings became and it was really overwhelming to be hit by those feelings every time I was anywhere near you. I kept making these opportunities to be around you, hoping that I would somehow be able to connect with you but the more opportunities I messed up, the more embarrassed and insecure I became. But none of that was you,” Marinette emphasised. “It was all me overthinking and catastrophizing because unfortunately, that’s what I do as Marinette. Hopefully, I mostly avoid that as Ladybug. But back to my sad little story.. I’ll admit that as much I admired you and was doing what I could to know more about you, I didn’t know you well enough to truly love you. All the same, I felt this really special connection with you and it always left me wanting more…”

Adrien smiled at her. “Thank you for telling me this. It makes a lot of sense to me now and knowing how hard you were trying to get to know me means a lot.”

“Now of course…” Marinette paused reflectively. “I know exactly what connection I was feeling. But I met you and Chat Noir at the same time and I didn’t realize that part of the connection I was feeling to you was the connection I was feeling to Chat Noir. I could never have guessed it was different facets of the same connection and that I wasn’t learning something about two different people, I was learning-maybe not everything- but a lot of things about the same wonderful person. Putting this all together, I am realizing that the feelings I had before may have seemed like love and were maybe even the start of love but this… what I feel for you now… Maybe I shouldn’t be saying this so soon but I have to be honest and Adrien, I just want to tell you that I love you so much.”

Adrien had been looking at Marinette and paying careful attention as she quietly confessed her thoughts and feelings to him. He had been afraid that his own feelings would seem too intense to her but he realized now that the intensity of her own feelings matched his. In fact, everything about her just seemed to balance everything about him. He wondered if being chosen for these roles made them a match or if they were a match already and that was why they had been chosen.

“Adrien?” Marinette asked nervously, snapping him out of his thoughts. “I’m sorry… maybe I shouldn’t have…”

“No, Marinette… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have stayed so quiet after you stopped talking. It’s just.. What you said made me think about how perfectly matched we are. I was afraid my own feelings were too much but now… I just want to say that I love you too, Marinette.”

Marinette drew in a sharp breath as he said the words she had been wanting desperately to hear. Adrien smiled at her and the smile changed to something else, an expression of longing that Marinette had never seen on anyone’s face. Suddenly, he pulled her into his lap and kissed her. Feeling completely overwhelmed, Marinette clung to his shoulders. The kiss was gentle and tender. Neither of them was striving for more. Both felt confident that this was only the beginning and there was no need to rush.

*******

When the teens broke apart again, Adrien smiled and held Marinette’s head to his chest. His other arm curved around her waist as he held her close. Marinette hummed in contentment which made him smile and nuzzle the top of her head.

“I guess the next thing is how we explain ourselves to our well-meaning but perhaps a little intrusive friends,” Adrien said, grinning into her hair.

“Yeah, that is definitely a concern of mine too,” grumbled Marinette. “Not gonna lie, Alya is VERY invested in our relationship and she’s going to be extremely suspicious of how we went from Point A on Friday afternoon, me jumping into a bush to Point B Monday morning, walking into class holding hands.

Adrien smiled, “I’m looking forward to Monday morning already in that case!” He laughed and then looked thoughtful for a moment. “Hmmm, well at least there is a weekend between those two points. Do you have any plans with Alya this weekend?“

“Not at the moment,” Marinette replied. “But we often text and end up hanging out at some point over the weekend.”

“I think I have an idea,” Adrien said slowly. “Excuse me for a moment.” He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out his phone. “I’m gonna call Nino but I’m not telling him where I am, ok?”

Marinette nodded silently while watching with interest to see what Adrien had in mind.

Adrien found Nino’s number and hit the call button. He held the phone up to his ear and waited a moment.

“Hey Nino! What’s going on?” he asked after Nino picked up. He waited a moment. “Oh, you’re hanging out with Alya? Well that’s perfect because I- I had something to ask which would involve you both. In fact, why don’t you put me on speaker if you haven’t already?”

Marinette watched Adrien’s expression becoming more and more mischievous. She couldn’t guess what he was about to do but somehow this didn’t worry her at all.  
“So I don’t know if you saw earlier today when I accidentally launched Marinette into the shrub…” Marinette could hear both Alya and Nino laughing on the other end. She could feel herself blushing as she remembered her less than graceful entrance into the shrub and her somewhat painful, extremely clumsy trip out of it.

“Well, she was so scratched up that I felt really bad and I ended up not saying what I was trying to say in the first place,” Adrien explained. “I actually was trying to… ask her out on a date.”

Adrien’s admission was interrupted by a scream so loud that Marinette could clearly hear it. Adrien pulled the phone away from his ear for a moment and grinned at her. Marinette was trying so hard not to giggle that her shoulders were shaking.

“Ok, Alya, I guess this is good news to you?” he asked with a smirk.

He had to pull the phone away again as Alya yelled, “HELL YES IT IS! It’s about damn time, Agreste!”

“All right, well I’m delighted to have your blessing, Alya,” he teased. “So I’m gonna call her but I thought maybe we could all do something together? My father is out of town until Sunday night so I actually have an open schedule for once.” He listened again as Nino and Alya were both enthusiastically interrupting each other with different suggestions. He perked up when he heard one he particularly liked the sound of. “Hey, what was that about a movie at the park? Which park? And there’s food and drinks for sale? Yeah! That sounds great! What time does it start? 8pm? Maybe we could meet up at Marinette’s for coffee at 7 and then walk there. What do you think? Ok, well I’m gonna give her a call now. I’ll let you know if she says yes.” Marinette heard a derisive snort from Alya and nearly laughed.

“Ok. yes well I appreciate the vote of confidence, Alya. Hopefully I will see you both tomorrow! Bye.” Adrien hung up and looked at Marinette. “Well what do you say, bugaboo?”

“It sounds really fun. I’d love to!” She exclaimed, blushing. “I guess I’m going to have to try and be a little more awkward again or they’ll get suspicious. Then again, Alya is the queen of making things awkward so that may not be as difficult as it seems!”

Adrien laughed and kissed the top of her head. “I’m so excited for our first date!” he said, squeezing her tightly. “And with that…” he picked up his phone and texted Nino.

Adrien: She said yes! :-D

Moments later, Marinette’s phone buzzed with a text message alert.

Alya: EEEEEE OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!! My second favorite ship is sailing!  
Marinette: 2nd?!  
Alya: LB + Chat is #1. Sry.  
Marinette: LOL

*****  
After reading her texts and replying to Alya, Marinette got up to put her phone on its charger. Adrien put his phone back in the pocket of his black, button-down shirt which he was wearing open over a t-shirt. He suddenly realized he was feeling entirely too warm.

 _Maybe it is warm being above a bakery or maybe it’s all the excitement but wearing two shirts feels like too much,_ he thought. He decided to take the top shirt off and draped it over Marinette’s desk chair. Marinette turned from plugging in her phone and looked at him at that moment. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt and dark jeans that she had never seen him wear before. It was a simple, classic outfit but he wore it with such confidence and poise that he took her breath away. Adrien’s sincerity and kind heart had forged Marinette’s initial attraction more than his looks. Of course, Marinette had always thought he was really cute but she had almost separated Adrien, her friend from Adrien the model. 

Oh my goodness, she thought. This gorgeous boy is my Chat and my Adrien and he is absolutely breathtaking. She blinked for a moment to clear her head and realized that now he was looking at her too.

“What is that look?” he asked with a grin.

“I’m sorry,” she blushed. “It’s just..agh… you’re so…” she bit down on her stuttering words and said the word that had popped into her head a moment ago. “Gorgeous.”

Now it was Adrien’s turn to look down shyly, trying to calm his blush before Marinette noticed. He had received countless compliments and critiques on his appearance as a model but no one had ever used that word to describe him. Marinette’s awkward but sincere compliment made him feel warm all over.

“Thank you,” he finally said as he walked back over to her. To her surprise, he suddenly picked her up and carried her back to the chaise. She giggled quietly as he sat down and arranged her sideways on his lap, cradling her back with one arm. “And you, Marinette,” he murmured in her ear, “are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.” Marinette tilted her head up to look at him and smile.

“I wish we could stay here, just like this and never have to worry about Hawk Moth or our responsibilities to our city because right now, I feel so happy and I don’t want to feel anything else,” she said. 

Adrien reached over and touched her face, then leaned in and kissed her slowly and tenderly. Marinette reached up to touch his hand and kissed him back, tentatively nibbling his lower lip.

“Mmmm,” Adrien murmured, finally pulling away. Every time we kiss, it feels even more amazing. I don’t know what you are doing to me Marinette but I like it.”

Marinette grinned. “What can I say, you inspire me!” she teased and he grinned back happily.

Adrien looked outside at the now dark night sky. “It’s getting pretty late. I guess I should get going, much as I don’t want to.”

“Yeah, I wish you could just stay overnight. I never want to let you go,” Marinette sighed.  
“I would love to cuddle with you all night,” he replied longingly. “I bet I would sleep so much better that way.”

“Me too,” Marinette agreed. “Hey I know we are meeting up tomorrow evening but I don’t want to wait that long to see you. How about you come over for breakfast? My parents eat really early so they can handle the weekend rush but I usually grab something around 9 after I’ve helped for a couple hours. Then I usually help from 10-1 on Saturdays.”

“I’d love to come over for breakfast!” Adrien exclaimed.

“Ok, well if you are coming over tomorrow morning, I guess I can let you go for now. Text me when you are home safe, all right?”

“I will,” he promised. 

After one last, lingering hug, Adrien grabbed his shirt, transformed back to Chat Noir and reluctantly climbed out to the balcony. “See you tomorrow, Princess,” he grinned and blew her a kiss. He twirled his baton dramatically before hopping over the edge of the balcony and levering himself to the next rooftop. Marinette watched from the hatch door as his figure grew smaller then disappeared. With a dreamy sigh, she turned and climbed down from her loft bed. Her phone buzzed on her desk as she stepped off the ladder. 

Adrien: Made it home ok. Can’t wait to see u tmrw <3

Marinette: Me too. Sleep well Kitty.

Smiling, Marinette opened her trap door and went to find her mother.

****

“Maman?” she called.

“Yes dear?” Sabine replied, walking out of the bathroom.

“Something amazing just happened!” Marinette exclaimed. “Adrien called and asked if I’d like to join him tomorrow night on a double date with Alya and Nino!”

“Oh sweetie, I am so pleased for you! Adrien is such a lovely boy and I know…” she paused with a knowing grin, “That you care about him a lot.”

Marinette blushed at her mother’s teasing tone. “I asked him to join me during my breakfast break tomorrow too. Is that ok?”

“Of course! Now I need to get to bed and so do you. Tomorrow sounds like it is going to be especially busy for you!”

“That is definitely true,” Marinette agreed. “I’m so excited, I just hope I will be able to sleep!”

*****

Adrien smiled as he read Marinette’s reply on his phone. The past few hours had been the most exhilarating of his life. He had fantasized about this identity reveal for years and he had hoped that a romantic relationship with his lady might eventually ensue but this was beyond his wildest dreams. He sheepishly reflected on how much he had already cared about Marinette before learning that she was not just his “Everyday Ladybug”. He had known on some level that he cared more about her than he had allowed himself to think about. Connecting his overwhelming feelings for Ladybug with the steadily increasing feelings he had for Marinette was a very intense experience. He flopped down on the couch in his room with a dreamy sigh and called off his transformation. Plagg slowly floated to his eye level with a sly grin.

“So, kid, it was Pigtails after all. I’m starting to wish I’d wagered some Camembert on this. Oh well, you probably owe me some anyway just for all the great advice I’ve given you. Better make it that super luxury stuff. You two have given Tikki and I enough grief with all this ridiculous love square business.”

Adrien laughed. “Lovesquare, Ha! I hadn’t thought of it like that. Not to worry, Plagg. I’m going to order you the best camembert I can find, just to say thank you for your continued support.

Plagg’s small green eyes widened in delight. “Truly you are my favorite Chat Noir.”

“I’m not going to forget you said that,” Adrien grinned.

“Enough talk, get to ordering kid! “ Ah, the anticipation of this wonderful camembert is more than I can bear. I guess I’ll have to tide myself over with some cheese puffs for breakfast, hmmm?” Plagg raised his eyebrow mischievously.

Adrien blushed. “That shouldn’t be a problem… There!” With a flourish, he submitted his order for five wheels of the most expensive camembert he had ever purchased. It was a good thing he had been saving up for a while. Although most of the money he earned from modelling was put away in a trust account, he had eventually worked out an agreement with his father to get 10% of each fee for spending money. “It should be here in two days. I hope you can wait that long.”

“Well you waited this long for Pigtails. I guess I can wait for two days.”

“Plaaaagg,” Adrien whined.

“You make it too easy, kid. Frankly, I’m not even sorry,” Plagg smirked.

Adrien snorted. “So much for being your favorite Chat Noir, huh,” he said as he pulled on some clean pajamas.

“The fact that you provide endless material for mocking you is just another reason why you’re my favorite kitten.”

“Good night Plagg.”

“Goodnight Monsieur Noir,” Plagg said with an exaggerated bow. 

Adrien half laughed, half groaned as he set his alarm and climbed into bed.


	6. Chapter 6

“Marinette, time to wake up!” Sabine exclaimed, climbing into Marinette’s room. 

Marinette groaned and sat up sleepily. “Thanks, Maman,'' she said groggily.

“I thought I would get you up a little earlier than usual since Adrien is coming over later this morning,” Sabine explained, her eyes twinkling.

Suddenly all the events of the previous evening came flying into focus for Marinette. “Oh! I better get ready!” she exclaimed.

“I’ll get you some coffee,” Sabine promised, heading back down to the bakery.

Marinette hurriedly took a shower and combed the tangles out of her hair. She put her hair up into a high bun out of her face and added a pink velvet bow clip to secure it then went to pick out an outfit. Rifling through her closet, she pulled out some skinny black jeans and a dark pink hoodie. She got dressed then went to her mirror to put on a little makeup. She quickly brushed on some shimmery silver eyeshadow and added one coat of mascara to her lashes. She grinned excitedly at her reflection and then went down to the bakery.

As usual, the bakery was very busy with a constant stream of customers. Sabine handed Marinette a coffee as she stepped behind the till to replace her mother. She nodded her thanks and then gestured to the next customer. As each customer ordered, Sabine rushed around gathering their selections while Marinette rang up the orders and took payment. Every once in a while, her father would come in with a tray of pastries or a basket of bread to replenish the items in the display case. It was the same routine as every weekend and her family worked together in a comfortable rhythm. Marinette was handing her classmate Ivan his change when Sabine tapped her on the shoulder.

“It’s almost time for your break. I can take over now,” she told her daughter.

“Thanks Maman,” Marinette said. She waved goodbye to Ivan as he left the bakery. At that moment, she saw Adrien arriving. He greeted Ivan with a wave before stopping to have a brief conversation with him. Ivan waved and headed off and Adrien came inside.

“Hey, Marinette!” he said, his eyes lighting up as she smiled at him.

“Hi,” she said softly. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“Sure, what are you drinking?” he asked.

“Coffee, Marinette-style,” she grinned. “Which means it’s heavily disguised with milk and sugar.”

Adrien laughed. “Sounds great!”

“I’ll make one for you and grab some pastries for us.”

“Ivan recommended the mini baguettes. Can we have a couple of thoise?” Adrien asked, his mouth watering in anticipation as he looked at all the delicious looking contents of the display case.

“Of course! I’ll grab a few cheese puffs as well,” she said, winking at him.

_‘Agggh, she is so cute when she winks!’_ Adrien thought to himself. 

Marinette put all the breakfast items and her coffee on a tray and handed Adrien his coffee. “Let’s go upstairs,” she suggested. “It’s too busy to hang around here.”

“Ok,” he agreed, following her up the stairs.

It was much quieter upstairs in the family dining area. Marinette put the tray down carefully then turned to face Adrien. “I’m so glad to see you, she said shyly. “I don’t know about you but I was so excited it was pretty difficult to get to sleep.”

“Yeah, me too,” Adrien said, picking up a cheese puff and handing it to his kwami who was currently hiding in his shirt pocket. He smiled down at Marinette and reached over to stroke her bangs, pushing them gently to the side. “You look really pretty,” he said, drawing her to him for a hug.

Marinette wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. They stood together quietly for a moment. Adrien kissed the top of her head and then pulled away.

“I guess we better eat before your break is over, “ he said.

“Yeah...:” Marinette trailed off a little reluctantly.

They both settled down to eat. Adrien gave Plagg another cheese puff then helped himself to a mini baguette. Marinette went and grabbed some strawberry jam and butter along with a bread knife and handed them to Adrien.

“Papa just made the baguettes so it should still be warm.”

“Awesome,” Adrien said, breathing in the delicious scent as he cut the baguette in half lengthwise. “I’m going to try this with just butter first.”

Marinette nodded and helped herself to an almond croissant. She watched Adrien’s expression as he bit into the bread.

“This is wonderful,” he said blissfully, taking another bite.

Marinette laughed at Adrien’s ecstatic expression as he slowly devoured the baguette. “Baguettes are Papa’s specialty. It took a while to get the mini baguettes to a level he felt was as good as the full sized ones but it was worth the effort. They are very popular with the weekend breakfast crowd.”

“I don’t get to have many carbs,” Adrien admitted. “Mostly I get whatever you bring on patrol. I’m not sure you’d find as much as a dinner roll in my house.”

“Well I don’t think this will do you any harm. I know I burn more than enough calories at the moment so I am sure you do too.” Marinette murmured. “I know you probably have to go home for lunch most of the time but you are always welcome to come here with me when you can!”

“I’d love to,” Adrien said, putting his hand on top of hers.

Marinette startled at the unexpected contact then relaxed. Adrien’s hand felt warm and soft. She looked over at him and they both blushed as they made eye contact. Footsteps coming up the stairs caused the teens to separate and go back to their breakfast. Marinette was finishing her coffee when Sabine walked into the dining area.

“Is it time for me to come back down?” Marinette asked.

“Actually, I came up to say that things are levelling off so you can stay up here for now,” Sabine said, smiling. “If I need help, I can always come get you. Oh, and Adrien, I don’t think I had a chance to greet you earlier. It’s nice to see you!”  
“Thank you Mrs Cheng. It’s nice to see you too!” Adrien responded. 

“Oh, please call me Sabine,” she replied, touching his shoulder warmly.

“Oh, ok, Sabine,” he said. “Are you sure it's all right, my stealing Marinette away from helping you?”

“It’s fine. I’m happy she gets to take a break for once. She’s always so busy.”

“That is definitely true!” Adrien agreed with a smile. 

“Well I need to get back down to the bakery,” Sabine said. “Tom has to get some things out of the oven soon.”

“Thanks, Maman,” Marinette smiled gratefully. “Text me if you need me to come help.”

Sabine nodded and smiled. “Have fun you two!” she said with a wink.

Marinette blushed at her Maman’s teasing words. She turned to Adrien and couldn’t stop herself from giggling. His cheeks were as pink as hers.

“Sorry,” she apologized, still giggling. “I think we can count on plenty of teasing from my parents.”

“As long as that means they are fine with me hanging around, I guess I’ll manage,” Adrien said. All this focus on his relationship with Marinette was making him feel a little self-conscious.

“I think they are happy for both of us,” Marinette said, touching his face reassuringly.

Adrien closed his eyes, relishing the feeling of her small, cool hand on his cheek. To his surprise, he felt her other hand come to rest on his other cheek. He smiled but didn’t open his eyes. He had never experienced this kind of affection from anyone and it was a soothing balm on his heart. His thoughts were interrupted by Marinette’s lips brushing against his.

“Want to go up to my balcony and get some fresh air?” she murmured in his ear.

“Hmmm, fresh air is fine but will there be cuddling?” he asked softly.

“Of course there will be cuddling!” Marinette said with a grin.

“Then lead the way!”


	7. Chapter 7

The sun was shining brightly when Marinette and Adrien climbed out onto the balcony. Marinette pulled some cushions out of a storage box and piled them together into a nest. Adrien kneeled right in the middle of the pillows and reached out to grab Marinette’s hand. Smiling, she reached out to put her hand in his but Adrien was too fast. His hand closed over her wrist and he pulled her to him and sat down, gathering her into his lap in one fluid motion. Marinette laughed and snuggled against him.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been up here in the daytime,” Adrien mused, stroking Marinette’s hair. “Probably since I ticked off your dad and he got akumatized.”

“I guess that’s another reason to be careful with your secret identity,” Marinette teased him.

“That’s for sure. Ugh… if only I had realized who I was turning down. I’ve missed out on a lot of cuddles by failing to see what was right in front of me.”

“We both did,” Marinette consoled him. “And I don’t know that we were ready for this then.”

“I hope I’m ready now,” Adrien said sincerely. “I don’t want to do anything to mess this up.”

“I think as long as we make sure we always take time to talk about how we’re thinking and feeling, we’ll be ok,” Marinette replied.

“Well what I’m thinking right now is how much I’d like to kiss you. May I?” he asked.

“You may,” Marinette assented, blushing.

Smiling, he leaned over and kissed her softly. Marinette reached up to touch his face again as she returned his kiss. It was the best feeling she had ever had. Adrien’s arm curled protectively around her back and his other hand rested gently on her knee. She could feel his breath against her face as they kissed. The sounds of the city surrounded them in a familiar ambient noise.

Sighing in contentment, Adrien broke away for a moment. “It feels like we are in our own little world up here,” he said, gently stroking Marinette’s bangs off to the side of her face and kissing her forehead.

“A far more peaceful world than the one I am used to,” Marinette laughed.

“Me too,” Adrien sighed. “Someday when we finally defeat Hawk Moth, I want to go on an amazing vacation to celebrate with you.”

“It’s a deal,” Marinette said with a grin. She rested her head on his chest, imagining different trips they could go on. She remembered when she unintentionally snuggled on Adrien’s shoulder on the trip back from London and thought about going on another train trip, just the two of them. She thought of travelling to Germany to shop at the Christmas markets, bundled up in warm clothes, drinking hot chocolate and holding hands or maybe going somewhere warm and sunny with beautiful beaches like Spain or Portugal.

“What are you thinking about?” Adrien interrupted her reverie.

“Oh just imagining different vacations we could go on,” Marinette said dreamily.

“Hey, so was I! Tell me, did any of your ideas involve you in a swimsuit?” he asked flirtatiously.

“Adrien!” she squealed, picking up one of the cushions and hitting him with it. Laughing, he grabbed another cushion to shield himself as she tried to hit him again. Soon they were both on their feet trying to land blows on each other and laughing hysterically. Marinette finally paused to catch her breath, still laughing and wiping tears from her eyes.

“I cannot believe you said that!” she wheezed.

Adrien shrugged. “Well that was the first idea that came to my mind. What? Don’t you want to see me in a swimsuit?” he raised an eyebrow suggestively.

Despite her best intentions, Adrien’s words firmly planted themselves in her head. She hadn’t been thinking about him in a swimsuit but now… she definitely was.

“Mmmm…” Marinette’s expression went from scolding to dreamy as she dropped her cushion to the ground absentmindedly. Something about her expression made Adrien feel hot under the collar.

“Ummmm, Marinette?” he managed to say in a somewhat strangled voice.

“Well, you said it, not me!” Marinette purred in a very --Adrien gulped-- sexy voice. He looked at his girlfriend, unable to say anything. The hot under the collar feeling was now flooding his face and he knew he must be blushing all the way to his ears. He had thought she’d be more taken aback by his words but she had responded in a way he absolutely didn’t expect. Weakly, he dropped his own cushion on the ground and then sat down on it. Marinette’s teasing expression changed to one of concern.

“Are you okay, kitty? She asked, kneeling next to him.

“I think you broke me,” he groaned.

Marinette threw back her head and laughed. Her delighted expression woke something up in the pit of Adrien’s stomach. A very Chattish impulse sparked in his mind and Adrien couldn’t resist the sudden urge to pounce on her. His mind worked quickly, noting the pile of cushions a few feet away before leaping on her and pulling her suddenly into them. Marinette let out a squeak of surprise as they rolled through the pile of pillows. Their momentum slowed then stopped with Adrien laying on top of her with a smile she had only ever seen on Chat Noir’s face.

“What was-” she protested but Adrien silenced her with a passionate kiss. She hesitated for a moment then wrapped her arms around him and returned his kiss, gently nipping at his lower lip. He moaned softly then broke away, pushing himself off of her.

“What are you doing to me, Bug?” he asked her, taking a deep breath in an attempt to compose himself.

“You started it,” she grumbled, scrambling to her feet. “All that talk about swimsuits and then pouncing on me like the big… naughty… cat.. you ARE.” she booped his nose to emphasise her last word.

Adrien laughed and hugged her. “I just… I already knew I loved you but.. It’s only been a day and everything just feels so right.”

“I know,” Marinette said, snuggling into his chest. “I’m trying really hard not to go too fast but my feelings are so strong. I love you so much and I guess… those teenage hormones we keep hearing about probably don’t help either.”

Adrien laughed quietly while still holding her and stroking her back. “Maybe we should go inside and check on the Kwami. Plagg flew away to find Tikki when we went through your room earlier.

Marinette nodded and started putting the cushions back. Adrien began helping her and soon everything was put away and the teens headed back into her room. After making sure the trap door was shut, Marinette called for the Kwami.

“Tikki, Plagg?”

“Right here, Marinette!” Tikki popped up from the chaise. Plagg floated up slowly beside her. “How are you two?”

“We’re fine,” Marinette replied, smiling affectionately at her Kwami. “Do you two need anything?”

“I’d take another cheese puff if you’re offering,” Plagg said.

Marinette pulled out her phone to check the time. “Wow, it’s almost lunchtime already! You aren’t expected at home, are you?” she asked Adrien, looking worried.

“Nah, since my dad and Natalie are gone, I cleared my schedule for the day. I guess some of your Ladybug Luck rubbed off on me because my Chinese tutor was double-booked this weekend and was all too happy for me to cancel without letting my father know. Plus my fencing practice was cancelled due to a tournament for the younger students.”

“Well, I’m happy to have you all day if you want! Although from the sound of it, I shouldn’t get used to it,” Marinette said with a sigh.

“Probably not,” Adrien said sadly. “Still, today I would love to spend the whole day with you.” He took her hand and kissed her knuckles gently.

Marinette blushed and smiled at him. “My parents close for an hour for lunch. Would you like to join us?” she asked.

“Is that going to be ok with them?” Adrien asked. “I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

“I’m sure they’ll be happy to have you!” Marinette reassured him. “I’ll go let Maman and Papa know and I’ll get some treats for the Kwami. Be right back!”

Adrien nodded and went to sit with the Kwami on the chaise. Tikki smiled warmly at him and floated up to nuzzle his cheek. “I’m so glad you and Marinette have finally discovered each others’ true identities. The last year has been especially difficult for her and it has been nice to see her so happy.”

“I’m happy too, TIkki,” he replied. “I’ve never been this happy in my life. I just hope this helps her feel less alone and more confident in us as a team.”

“Just remember, the attributes that make you Chat Noir and Ladybug also make you work together as an ideal partnership. Take care of your relationship with each other and you will be able to accomplish far more than you can even imagine!”

“Am I going to be able to help Marinette with her role as the Guardian?” Adrien asked.

“That is a very good question,” Tikki said. “Marinette is the first Ladybug to become the Guardian. I don’t think any of Plagg’s chosen have ever been Guardian, have they Plagg?”

“Can you imagine?” laughed Plagg. “For the record--no.”

“Is the Guardian always a Miraculous holder?” Adrien asked. He was finding his conversation with the Kwami enlightening with more and more questions occuring to him.

“Well they have always been capable of wielding a Miraculous but usually their relationship with the Kwami is more utilitarian.” Tikki replied.  
“What do you mean?” Adrien inquired.

“Well they wouldn’t usually have a Miraculous on. They would choose one if it became necessary to protect the rest of the Miraculous or a Miraculous holder and in that moment, they would choose whichever Miraculous they felt most suitable to address whatever challenge or threat they were facing.”

“So Master Fu and Wayzz…”

“That was an unusual situation. I think Master Fu felt very vulnerable to attack after accidentally destroying the temple. I think his desire to create a safe haven for the Miraculous was so overwhelming that he couldn’t imagine how to effectively use any other Miraculous. I also think that Wayzz’s protective nature deeply reassured him so he craved his company.”

“That makes sense,” Adrien said contemplatively.

“What makes sense?” Marinette asked as she climbed back into her room.

“Oh, I was asking Tikki a bit about the Guardian role,” Adrien answered.

“Adrien asked some really good questions. He got me thinking about some aspects of the role that I hadn’t thought about for awhile. I think it would be good for all of us to sit down and talk about it when we have time. As Plagg and I were telling Adrien, none of Plagg’s chosen have ever been the Guardian and you are the first of mine to become the Guardian. I know Wayzz was around Master Fu when he made the decision to train you for the role. I would love to have him join us for a conversation so he could tell us why Master Fu decided to do something so unprecedented as making a main Miraculous holder the next Guardian.”

“Well you know how desperate I have been for more information about my role,” Marinette said, sighing. “It’s been an awful feeling suddenly inheriting all this responsibility without knowing fully what I was getting myself in for.”

Adrien looked at her with concern. He had worried about Ladybug ever since that terrible day but had no idea how he could help her. He could tell how overwhelmed and scared she was but she had never previously been willing to discuss it in any detail because she had been afraid she would reveal too much and he would figure out her identity. He had been very relieved when she decided to let him in to her civilian life. Even before he had known who she really was, he had been determined he would find some way to help her once they revealed their identities.

“Anyway,” Marinette said, interrupting his thoughts. “I came up to say lunch is almost ready. I have treats for our Kwami.” She held up a tray with two dishes, one with a few camembert wedges and some cheese puffs and the other with several chocolate chip cookies.

“Awwww, yesssss,” Plagg crowed, racing to the tray. 

Marinette laughed and put the tray down. Tikki zoomed past her to join Plagg.

“Looks like you have two satisfied customers,” Adrien said with a grin. He held out his arm to Marinette. “Shall we?”

Marinette laughed and took his arm. “We shall.”


	8. Chapter 8

After lunch, Marinette and Adrien went back up to her room to plan out the rest of their afternoon. 

“You know how my weekend schedule usually is,” Adrien said with a sigh. “What do you usually do?”

“It tends to vary quite a bit,” Marinette said. “Sometimes I spend the afternoon with Alya, sometimes we have a sleepover but don’t meet up until evening. If we don’t hang out, sometimes I play videogames with Papa or if I’m desperate, I get my homework done early!” Marinette laughed. “And I always spend some time designing or sewing or both.”

“Are you working on any designs at the moment?” Adrien asked. 

“I was pretty focused on the dress I wore for our reveal until yesterday.” Marinette said. “I guess I had interrupted another project for that so I’ll resume that pretty soon.”

“Can I see what you’ve been working on?” Adrien asked shyly.

“Sure, if you want to!” Marinette said. She went and grabbed the sketchbook from her desk and turned back to Adrien. To her surprise, he was already reclining back on her chaise. He gestured for her to come closer.

“Why don’t you sit in front of me?” he asked softly.

Marinette nodded, blushing a little as she sat between his legs with her sketch book. He leaned forward slightly, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on her shoulder. Marinette felt his rumbling purr against her back as she opened her sketchbook. She still had the page bookmarked for her dress.

“Your sketches are so amazing,” Adrien murmured. “I think it is so cool that you can envision something like this and then bring it to life.”

“Awe, thanks Kitty. You are so sweet,” Marinette cooed appreciatively, turning the page back to her previous project. “This is what I was working on before.” She rubbed the side of her head against him. “By the way, your purring is very relaxing.”

Adrien laughed and gave her a little squeeze as he studied her sketches. “This is beautiful! I really like the print. Do you actually have fabric like this?” he asked.

“Well,” Marinette said, studying the sketch for the first time in several days. “I do have the fabric but I don’t feel like the design is quite ready yet. I’m mostly happy with it but there is something unfinished about it and I haven’t been able to figure out what it is.”

“Where did you find fabric like this?” Adrien asked, impressed. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It kind of looks like marble but then it looks like it has been painted with watercolors.”

“The fabric inspired the design actually. Here, I will show it to you.” Marinette gently pulled away and then went to the closet where she kept her sewing materials. She pulled out a very slender bolt of fabric and brought it over to him. Adrien’s eyes widened as he studied it. “I saw this marble print sports fabric and just thought it would be so pretty with a delicate color wash,” she explained. “It took a few experiments before I got the effect I was going for. I’m really happy with how it turned out but now the pressure is on to create a design that does it justice.” 

“It’s amazing! And hand-painted, wow!” he shook his head in awe.

Marinette blushed as she took the bolt back to her sewing closet. Then she returned to her spot on the chaise and snuggled against Adrien as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her ear.

“I just can’t get over how nice it feels to hold you,” he said softly. “Not having to rush anywhere, just enjoying being near you… this makes me so happy.”

“I love spending time with you too,” Marinette replied. “I’m so glad we can do this now. Knowing you on both sides of the mask is incredibly special to me.”

Adrien sighed peacefully. His heart felt full and content. He knew he would do anything to protect his relationship with Marinette. They were both so young still -- he would be 17 in just over a month -- and he wanted to make sure that they were growing together instead of moving apart.

Marinette leaned further back against Adrien. She was feeling very sleepy after her late night. “Do you know what time it is?” she murmured.

Adrien reached into his shirt pocket and looked at his phone. “Just after 3,” he answered.

“Would you…” she paused self-consciously.

“What is it, Bug?” he asked, stroking her hands and making her feel even sleepier.

“I’m feeling really sleepy… Could you… set an alarm and come snuggle with me on my...bed?” she blushed as she whispered the last word.

“I’d love to,” he replied, letting her get up and lead the way to her loft.

*****

“Marinette, Adrien?” Sabine called as she opened the trap door. All was quiet. She looked around for some sign of the teenagers. “Perhaps they are up on the balcony,” she murmured to herself. She carefully climbed the ladder but stopped as she reached the bed. With a soft chuckle, she pulled out her phone. “Well Alya, how’s this for the Marinette Challenge?” she laughed quietly as she took a picture of the couple, both sound asleep on top of the covers.

*****

Marinette woke to the cheerful melody of Adrien’s phone alarm. Groggily, she opened her eyes and noticed an arm draped over her shoulder. She turned to check if Adrien was awake. A pair of bleary green eyes was looking back at her.

“Hello,” Adrien murmured, drawing her to him.

“Hello,” Marinette returned, revelling in the delicious warmth of their bodies being so close. She could feel his breath on her face.

Adrien smiled at her and kissed her lips gently. He could hear his alarm chiming again but Marinette was kissing him back, her hands tangling in his hair… he’d shut it off eventually… her lips were moving against his and he tentatively flicked his tongue against her mouth. He felt her stiffen in surprise but she opened her mouth and the kiss grew deeper. Then the alarm repeated even louder and they reluctantly broke apart. Adrien reached over to shut the alarm off.

“Alya and Nino will be here in half an hour. Did you need to do anything to get ready?” he asked, stroking her hair.

“Umm,” Marinette inspected her outfit, noticing a few splashes on her sleeves and jeans from her stint in the bakery earlier. “Actually, I’m going to change. Just give me a couple of minutes.” She crawled out of her bed and went down the ladder. Adrien sat up to watch her pick out an outfit.

Marinette opened her closet and pulled out a few long sleeved shirts. Even though it was warm and summery outside, she knew it would be cooling down as the sun set.

‘Maybe I should pick out something extra snuggly for the movie,’ she thought to herself, blushing.

Adrien watched as she picked out a fluffy pink sweater and wondered why she was blushing. He decided not to interrupt her in case he made her self-conscious. He watched as she put away the other shirts and grabbed a pair of jeans.

“Be right back,” she promised, heading for the bathroom. 

Adrien pulled out his phone to check his messages.

 _‘Hmmmm, Alya messaged me. I hope they aren’t going to cancel on us’_ he thought.

Alya: 20 Euros or I’m inventing a new hashtag.

Alya: You and Marinette are a very rewarding ship.

Alya: #adrinettechallenge has a nice ring to it!

And then a picture popped up of himself and Marinette asleep in her bed. His arm was draped over her and his nose was against the back of her neck.

Alya: Your future MIL is a Queen. Can’t believe she took this and shared it with me. So honored.

Alya: SRSLY give me one good reason not to put this on insta

Adrien groaned and then laughed. At least it was a cute picture. He texted Alya back.

Adrien: If you do, my father will probably lock me up for a week.

Alya: fair enough! Guess I should just be pleased that Sabine has joined the Adrinette shipper ranks.

Adrien: Haha

Alya: We are heading to the bakery. Be there in 10.

Adrien: CU then

Adrien checked the rest of his messages. Nino had also sent him the incriminating photo from Mrs. Cheng along with his congratulations “for getting a girl to go to bed with you.” Adrien could feel his face getting red just reading his friend’s suggestive text.

“Well kid, looks like you can expect some teasing tonight… and it won’t even be from me!” Plagg said mischievously, having quietly floated over to read Adrien’s texts.

“Plagg! Where the hell did you come from?!” Adrien exclaimed, startled.

“Oh, I’ve just been chilling with Sugar Cube. We’ve had a nice time hanging out while you two caught up on your beauty sleep. Say, do you think me and Sugar Cube could hang out together at the movie? I wouldn’t mind the company.”

“What does Tikki have to say about that?” Adrien grinned. “Maybe she is looking forward to some peace and quiet.”

“Oh I see how it is.. Fair enough, I guess if I’m making fun of you I’ve got to expect you’ll return the favor. Hey Sugarcube!” Plagg exclaimed.

Tikki’s head popped up from a little box on the desk. “What is it, Stinky Sock?”

Adrien snorted with laughter at Tikki’s nickname. “Stinky Sock! That’s great. I didn’t know anyone had a special nickname for you, Plagg.”

“Haha,” Plagg said drily. “Anyway, as I was about to say, _Tikki_ , do you want to hang out at the movie? I think it would be a lot more fun than being by myself in the kitten’s pocket. I’d probably just get squished every time he makes a move on Pigtails.”

Tikki giggled, “Oh Plagg, you are embarrassing poor Adrien. I’ll make sure Marinette takes a bag that we can both fit into… and some snacks.”

“What’s that Tikki?” Marinette asked, coming out of the bathroom. 

Adrien looked up when he heard Marinette’s voice. She looked so pretty, it took his breath away. He hopped down from the loft and rushed over to pick her up and twirl her around. “You look…” his voice broke as he sat her down gently. He stroked her shiny, dark hair. “Your hair is so pretty down.”

“Thank you,” she said shyly.

“Just to warn you, I had a lot of texts from Alya and Nino. Your Maman sent a picture of us napping to Alya.”

“Aw, damn,” Marinette groaned. “How embarrassing is the picture?”

“It’s pretty cute actually,” Adrien grinned, showing her his conversation with Alya. (he would NOT be showing her what Nino had texted.)

“Looks like they’ll be here any minute,” Marinette said, observing the time stamp on the last message.

“Yeah, shall we go downstairs?” Adrien asked.

“Just a moment, Marinette… would you mind carrying your tote instead of your little bag? Plagg and I wanted to hang out together while you are busy with your friends.”

“Sure!” Marinette agreed, quickly transferring the contents of her regular purse to a big straw tote bag, “I’ll get some treats for you in the kitchen.”

“Thanks, Pigtails!” Plagg said with a grin before zipping into the bag. Tikki gave Marinette an affectionate nuzzle on the cheek before following him into the tote.

“Maybe I should grab some cushions and a blanket. I know we’ll be sitting on the ground.” Marinette said, thoughtfully .

“Good idea! I’ll grab four cushions from the balcony while you get a blanket,” Adrien said, climbing back up the ladder.

Marinette opened her trunk and selected a fleece blanket. She fished out a shopping bag from a drawer and stuffed it inside. Adrien came back with an armful of cushions which they transferred to the bag as well.

“Ok,” Marinette said, smiling at Adrien as she hoisted her tote bag onto her shoulder. “I think we’re ready.” Adrien nodded and picked up the bag full of cushions. After quickly visiting the kitchen for Kwami snacks, Adrien and Marinette headed down to the bakery.


	9. Chapter 9

“Hey Girl,” Alya greeted Marinette with a grin as she walked into the bakery with Nino. “You look _well-rested_.”

Marinette rolled her eyes as both Alya and Sabine laughed.

“Yeah, thanks for sending a picture to Alya,” Marinette said, looking mortified.

“It was too cute not to share and I knew Alya would appreciate it the most!’ Sabine said, her eyes twinkling.

“Ugh, how did you even get Alya’s number,” Marinette groaned in embarrassment.

“She messaged me on Instagram,” Alya grinned. “When she told me she had a picture for the Marinette Challenge, I was happy to give her my number. And the picture was even better than I expected.”

Nino laughed. “I’d say you made fast work of it, Agreste but we all know you two have been torturing us with this ‘we’re just friends’ charade for far too long.”

“Well, I guess a lot of things fell into place recently between the two of us,” Adrien said, smiling at Marinette. 

Marinette blushed, “Does anyone want coffee?” she offered, trying to change the subject.

“We were actually going to suggest we get going. The park was starting to get busy when we walked past so I think we better get over there so we can get a good spot.” Alya explained.

Marinette nodded, “Ok! Well, we are ready when you are!”

“Have fun!” Sabine called as the group left the bakery.

“So Adrien,” Alya said conversationally, “Exactly what fell into place that convinced you to finally ask our sweet Marinette out?”

“It’s a long story,” Adrien laughed. “Maybe we will tell you someday.”

“You better,” grumbled Alya. “You already seem pretty comfortable together and I can’t imagine how that happened so quickly.”

“Well we ended up chatting for quite awhile last night and we’ve spent most of today together,” Marinette said defensively.

“As you said earlier, we’ve been trying to figure out our relationship for awhile. We ended up having some time to talk, just the two of us and we were both feeling brave enough to be completely truthful with each other,” Adrien explained.

Alya gave them both a lingering, suspicious look. “The more you talk, the more I want details.”

“I guess we better stop talking then,” retorted Marinette. Adrien snorted with laughter. He had never heard Marinette be so sassy to anyone.

“Well, it looks like you were right about coming straight here,” he observed as they entered the park. How about we find a spot before we get food?”

Nino nodded. “Yeah dude. There’s the screen,” he gestured toward a large inflatable screen set up on one end of the park. “It looks like we can get pretty close on the left side of the seating area.”

They made their way to the unoccupied patch of grass that Nino had pointed out and then started unpacking their things. Nino pulled out a picnic blanket and shook it out. Marinette knelt down to smooth the edges and arrange the cushions as Adrien handed them to her. Alya and Marinette each pulled blankets out of their bags and sat down on their cushions.

“What would you like for snacks?” Adrien asked Marinette softly as he knelt down next to her. 

“Oh!, ummm… hot chocolate and popcorn! Thank you!”

“Of course! Would you like to share some crepes with me too?”

“Sure, I love crepes!” Marinette smiled up at him.

“Great, you and Alya wait here. Nino and I will go get food.” He kissed her cheek and smiled before standing up. “C’mon Nino, let’s go.” Nino nodded and followed him to the vendors area.

“Oh my gosh, girl!” Alya squealed when the boys were out of earshot. “He looks totally smitten!”

Marinette looked at the ground self-consciously. “I think we both are. It feels pretty amazing actually.”

“I’ll bet!” Alya exclaimed, giving Marinette a hug. “Girl I am just so happy for you!”

“Thanks, Alya,” Marinette replied, smiling.

At that moment, the boys returned, loaded down with treats. The girls took everything and laid it out on the picnic blanket. Marinette watched as Nino pulled his cushion next to Alya and pulled her against him. Adrien was carefully picking up the hot chocolates. He handed Marinette one cup before gingerly sitting on the cushion next to while holding his own. He slung one arm over her shoulders. Marinette leaned into him before taking a sip of her hot chocolate. 

“Mmmm, this is really good,” she said, savoring her hot drink.

“Would you like to try the crepes?” Adrien asked, cutting off a piece. “I ordered them with strawberries.”

“Ok,” Marinette said shyly. Adrien brought a forkful to her mouth and smiled warmly at her. Marinette blushed and opened her mouth and he carefully fed her a bite. “That is really good,” she said as Alya squealed, “Cuuuuuute!”

The two couples spent the next few minutes eating quietly and enjoying the atmosphere of the park. Adrien fed Marinette several more bites of crepe and they both sipped their hot chocolates. The sun slowly set and the park grew dark apart from the lights around the vendors. The air grew cooler and the chatter of the crown quieted as the movie screen lit up.

“Do you want the blanket?” Adrien whispered, noticing that Alya and Nino were already wrapped cozily in their fleece. 

“Y-yeah,” Marinette said, thinking to herself how nice it sounded to wrap up with Adrien.

Adrien smiled as he unfolded the blanket. “Why don’t you sit in front of me,” he murmured to her. Marinette slid her cushion between his legs then sat down in front of him. Adrien wrapped the blanket around both of them, then slid his arms underneath it and wrapped them around her waist. Marinette put her own hands on top of his and nestled against his chest.

Marinette’s attention to the movie drifted in and out. At one point, she noticed Alya and Nino making out from the corner of her eye but mostly she was focused on the warm, comforting presence of Adrien. Occasionally, he would squeeze her against him or kiss the edge of her ear. At some point, she grabbed the popcorn and was feeding him pieces as well as helping herself to it. After a while, she put the popcorn down and finished her hot chocolate. 

“Marinette?” Adrien whispered as she put down the empty cup.

“Yes?” she answered, turning to look at him. 

Adrien simply smiled before leaning in to kiss her. Marinette quietly slipped her tongue out to caress his mouth. Adrien opened his own mouth and they tasted each other, a mixture of sweet chocolate and salty popcorn adding another dimension to their kiss. Adrien reached out to touch her face, his other arm still around her waist. Their kiss was slow and gentle and they were completely oblivious to anything or anyone outside of their blanket.

A distant but loud crash caused them to break apart.

“Did you hear that,” Marinette whispered. Adrien nodded. She looked over at Alya and Nino to see if they had heard the noise. They had also broken apart and were sitting quietly with a tense expression on their faces. A moment later, akuma alerts began chiming around them.

Adrien groaned. “Thanks a lot Hawk Moth, you complete asshole,” he muttered, scrambling to his feet and pulling Marinette up with him. “Let’s get out of here!” he yelled.

Marinette held tightly to Adrien with one hand and her straw tote bag with the other. They raced to an alley and hid behind a dumpster to transform. 

“Plagg, Claws out!” Adrien exclaimed.

Marinette watched him transforming for a moment before calling out her own transformation. “Tikki, Spots on!”

“Wow,” Chat Noir murmured as they raced toward the sounds of destruction. “I don’t think I could ever get tired of watching that milady.”

“Likewise, Kitty,” Ladybug smiled at him. “Now we better focus on the task at hand!”

When they reached the akuma, they paused, taken aback by the sheer amount of damage it had already wrought. The akuma bore more than a passing resemblance to an alien Ladybug was confident she had seen in a recent movie trailer but it was at least ten times bigger than the character in the film. Ladybug was wondering how it had managed so much damage in such a short time when it effortlessly picked up a delivery van and threw it high into the side of the building she and Chat Noir were standing next to. Chat grabbed her arm and dragged her away as debris rained down around them.

“Good evening, Chat Noir and Ladybug!” the akuma bellowed. “I am Extra Terrestrial and I’m here to ensure that the citizens of Paris receive their inalienable right to enjoy science fiction whenever they like! I’m going to destroy the theater that said they didn’t get my booking right after I take your Miraculous!

“Well, I supported your cause right up to the pawt about wrecking stuff and taking my Miraculous!” Chat shouted as he levered himself along the eyeline of the akuma, drawing it away from Ladybug and giving her a chance to look for the location of the butterfly. “As a science fiction fan myself, I’m a-fur-aid I can’t condone violence as a way to achieve your goal. I mean, cat you just get tickets somewhere else?”

The akuma roared and swatted at Chat but he was too quick. He dodged and weaved his way around the akuma. As the akuma ducked down to swat at Chat, Ladybug noticed a hair clip glittering on the top of its head. Quickly she slung her yoyo up to the opposite building and swung over the akuma’s head for a closer look. She grinned as she saw it was a miniature of the alien’s face. The akuma batted her away so she pulled herself up quickly until she was out of its way.

“Hair Clip!” Ladybug exclaimed as Chat landed next to her. He nodded in acknowledgement and called his cataclysm. At that moment, the akuma reached up and swiped at them. They jumped out of the way and Chat flailed for a moment trying to catch his balance without unintentionally cataclysming something. Ladybug carefully grabbed his waist to steady him.

“Thanks Bugaboo,” he said, winking at her. “I think I lost my chance to dive bomb it. Any other ideas?” He waited for her answer while watching the akuma uproot a street light.

“Not sure,” she murmured. “Lucky charm!” she caught the bulky, polka-dotted item as it materialized from her yoyo, “Kinda looks like a projector,” she said, pushing the button on the side. Immediately, a light turned on, shining into the road. Quickly she pointed it at the side of a building.

The akuma gasped. “That isn’t out for months!” It rushed over to get a closer look at the moving image on the side of the building. Chat wasted no time hopping down and cataclysming the barrette before levering himself to safety. 

Ladybug quickly caught the escaping butterfly and purified it and watched as the akuma disappeared, leaving a girl her own age wearing a shirt and hair clip from the movie she had obviously been looking forward to seeing. Ladybug tossed the projector into the air shouting “Miraculous ladybug!” As the surrounding area was repaired around them, Chat jogged over for a fist bump.

“Pound It!”

“Sorry you missed out on the movie,” Chat said, approaching the confused-looking girl.

“Ugh, I’m so sorry Chat Noir and Ladybug,” the girl apologized. “I was really excited about the movie but I guess my disappointment about missing my chance to see it opening night got the better of me.”

“Not your fault,” Ladybug reassured her. “Hawk Moth shouldn’t be taking advantage of anyone’s emotions. It’s his fault entirely.”

“Well, I guess I’ll see if I can get tickets for tomorrow,” the girl sighed. “At least I got to meet you guys!”

“Always happy to make a new fur-iend,” Chat grinned as his ring chirped. “Enjoy the rest of your Caturday!” He pushed up on his baton and hopped into the skyline. 

Ladybug heard the chirp of her own Miraculous. “Are you all right to get home?” she asked the girl.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said ruefully. “Thanks again.”

Ladybug nodded. “Well I need to get going. Bug out!” she caught her yoyo on the top of a nearby building and pulled herself out of sight. Quickly she returned to the alley near the park and transformed back to Marinette behind the dumpster before cautiously walking back to where she had last seen Alya and Nino.

“Hey!” Adrien jogged over to greet her. “Good job!” he murmured into her ear as he pulled her to him.

“Thanks Kitty, you were purretty awesome yourself!” she murmured back, enjoying the warmth of his chest against her back. She smiled as she heard his little gasp of delight at her pun.

“Well if it isn’t the lovebirds!” Alya exclaimed with a grin, clutching her phone and dragging Nino behind her. “You guys missed out on a great battle. Chat Noir and Ladybug were awesome tonight.”

Marinette smiled. “I’d say I was sorry I missed it but I heard it was throwing cars. I’m glad you didn’t get hurt!”

Alya waved dismissively. “Yeah, safety first. Don’t worry, I kept my distance.”

Marinette grinned, wondering what Alya classified as distance. Granted, she hadn’t noticed her during the battle but she had been especially focused on Chat and the akuma. Wherever Alya had been hiding, it was good enough that she hadn’t been drawn into the battle.

“Well it looks like that’s the end of movie night,” Nino observed. “Alya lets get our stuff and head home before our folks freak out.”

Adrien nodded in agreement. “Sure, hey Marinette you should text your parents so they aren’t worrying.”

“Already did,” she smiled. “Let me help you pack up!” She pulled the shopping bag out of her tote so he could put the cushions and blanket inside. ‘Akuma aside, this was fun! I hope we can do it again soon.”

Alya and Nino nodded in agreement. Adrien smiled and hugged her to him.

“Well, we better get going,” Nino hoisted his blanket bag up and grabbed Alya’s hand.

“See you guys later!” she waved at them as she walked off.

“Bye!” Marinette called, waving back. “Let’s go!” she said to Adrien, taking his hand.

They walked back to the bakery, hand in hand, both quietly reflecting on their day together. Adrien’s phone beeped with a text message. He looked at his phone and scowled. 

“Damn, my dad is home early,” he complained. “I better head home.”

Marinette looked disappointed. “Do you think you’ll be able to get away tomorrow?”

“I hope so,” he said fervently. “If nothing else, I can pay you a rooftop visit after dinner.”

“I hate to think of you being lonely all day,” she said softly. “If you can’t get away, please text me or call me whenever you can.”

“Absolutely,” Adrien agreed as they approached the bakery. “One way or another I will talk to you tomorrow and at the very least, I’ll come by in the evening.

“I’m already looking forward to it,” Marinette said, smiling up at him.

Adrien smiled back, then leaned down to kiss her. As their lips met, he wrapped his arms around her waist. He felt Marinette’s hands reach around his neck as she kissed him back. “Goodnight,” he whispered as they broke apart.

“Goodnight,” she said, taking the shopping bag from him and heading into the bakery.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! Thank you everyone for your comments! I really appreciate them. Just to let you know, I have a sequel which I will start posting tomorrow called Point B! Thanks again!

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi to me on tumblr! @therealinadee


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